Fossil fuels such as coal, coke, petroleum, and the like may be gasified for use in the production of electricity, chemicals, synthetic fuels, or for a variety of other applications. Gasification involves reacting a carbonaceous fuel and oxygen at a very high temperatures to produce a syngas. Syngas is a fuel containing carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Syngas burns more efficiently and cleanly than the carbonaceous fuel in its original state. A byproduct of gasification is black water. Black water generally includes particles of ash, metals, ammonia, organic matter, and dissolved gases. One way to clean the black water is through a flash separation processes to separate the dissolved gases therein. A significant volume of demineralized grade water then may be used as wash water to remove the solids.
There is a desire for improved gasification processes and systems that may adequately clean black water and the like in a more efficient process. Moreover, such improved processes and systems may use less water and, hence, may provide reduced overall costs in a more environmentally friendly fashion as compared to some prior systems.